The invention relates to a shield assembly for a shelf rack, particularly for use on a shelf in a store or warehouse.
Many merchandise stores, and especially large warehousing retailers, store their articles for sale on large shelf racks which may include pallets of items for display and storage. Many of these pallets of items are positioned on upper shelves by means of forklifts. For the protection of its customers, it is imperative that items from these upper shelves do not accidently drop from these upper heights. Safety systems have been provided in the past to minimize safety risks and minimize risks to the customer. Many of these safety systems include the use of a net to secure the articles on the upper shelves. The net systems are generally made of a flexible material that can easily retract. However, the net system does not provide adequate strength for larger and heavier articles. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a safety system where the panel is made from a stronger material than netting but also provides accessibility to the articles located on the upper shelves.
A safety cargo shield system is provided for connection to a shelf rack having vertical uprights and horizontal shelving therebetween for the placement of articles. The shield assembly includes upright members securely connected to the vertical uprights of the shelf rack. A wire mesh panel is connected to rigid rods at its lateral ends. The rigid rods and wire mesh panel are movably connected between a pair of the upright members so that the wire mesh panel can move between an up position to protect articles from falling from the horizontal shelving and a down position to allow for access to the articles stored on the horizontal shelving.
Other applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.